The Las Vegas Raiders traded edge rusher Tyree Wilson to the New Orleans Saints on Saturday, the third day of the NFL Draft, sending the former seventh overall pick out of town in exchange for New Orleans’ 150th overall selection. Las Vegas also included its own seventh-round pick, No. 219 overall, in the deal.
Wilson, 25, was selected out of Texas Tech in the 2023 draft by a previous Raiders regime. He spent three seasons in Las Vegas, appeared in 50 games with seven starts, and finished his time there with 12 career sacks and 22 tackles for loss. He never recorded more than two sacks in a single season.
What Wilson actually produced in Las Vegas
The gap between Wilson’s draft position and his output became the defining story of his early career. Taken seventh overall, he arrived in Las Vegas carrying expectations of becoming a cornerstone pass rusher. Those expectations were not met.
His most consistent contributions came against the run. Ten of his 22 career tackles for loss came over his final two seasons, which suggests steady improvement in one area while his pass-rushing numbers remained well below what teams typically expect from a top-10 pick. The Raiders chose not to exercise Wilson’s fifth-year option before the trade, a decision that reflected their judgment on where his development was heading. New Orleans now inherits that decision.
How the Saints ended up with Wilson
New Orleans entered the back half of the draft with a clear interest in adding a pass rusher through trade. The Saints had been in contact with the New York Giants about edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft, but New York’s asking price did not match what New Orleans was willing to spend. With that door closed, the Saints shifted toward Wilson.
The parallel between the two players is worth noting, mostly in terms of draft pedigree. Both were top-10 picks who have not produced at the level their selection implied. Wilson’s career numbers fall well short of Thibodeaux’s, but the Saints are clearly betting that the physical traits that made Wilson a top-10 pick in the first place are still there and still developable.
What the Raiders do with what they got back
Las Vegas turned the 150th pick it received from New Orleans into safety Dalton Johnson out of Arizona. The selection reunites Johnson with Treydan Stukes, whom the Raiders had already taken in the second round at No. 38 overall. Both players came out of the same Arizona program.
The pick addressed a genuine positional need. The Raiders entered the draft with just two safeties under contract in Jeremy Chinn and Isaiah Pola-Mao, both of whom started in 2025 but are heading into the final years of their deals. Stukes is expected to contribute immediately. Johnson gives the team a developmental option behind him.
What this trade says about where both franchises stand
The Wilson deal fits the broader picture of a Raiders organization that is actively rebuilding and reallocating resources. Trading a player who had not grown into his draft value for capital that addressed an immediate positional need reflects a front office that has chosen to move forward rather than wait any longer for a return on a pick made by a previous regime.
For the Saints, the calculus is different. New Orleans has fewer answers at edge rusher and has now committed to the upside case that Las Vegas eventually gave up on. Whether Wilson can deliver on that upside in a new environment is an open question, but the Saints are paying a modest price to find out.
Wilson now has one year remaining on his rookie deal to show New Orleans something worth building on. Both organizations made choices this weekend that reflected where they are and where they are trying to go. How this one ages will depend almost entirely on what Wilson does next.
